


famous last words

by weirdo_in_disguise



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Multi, Young Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 16:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12868188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weirdo_in_disguise/pseuds/weirdo_in_disguise
Summary: Severus Snape, sixteen year old Hogwarts student, is dead.How, you ask?No, he hasn't been tortured to death after refusing the Dark Lord Voldemort. Nor has he finally succumbed to whatever mental or physical trauma the self-titled "Marauders" have inflicted on him this time.Severus Snape has done neither of those things. In fact, he laced his Dreamless Sleep with belladonna and slit his wrists for good measure.He hasn't come back as a ghost, but he has still found a way to haunt his tormentors through the use of Muffliato, and some heavily charmed potions vials.A table sat at the centre of it all, bare with the exception of a single cardboard box, and a note."If you've found this box, congratulations. You are now obligated to return to your dormitory and have a look at what's in it. Rest assured, however, if you open this before you get there, the consequences will be dire."





	1. Vial No.1, The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [13 Reasons Why](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10985706) by [Oswald_Nygmobblepot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oswald_Nygmobblepot/pseuds/Oswald_Nygmobblepot). 



> I was scrolling through tumblr and I found this idea, originally pitched by the-great-snape-debate, and then a fic which was written by Oswald_Nygmobblepot, and I really liked them so I want to try my own! Have fun!

Lily Evans moved purposefully towards the History of Magic section of the Hogwarts Library. It would be abandoned, she knew, as the only person who ever bothered to go there was now six feet underground. The polished bookcases gave way to timeworn oak shelves, and the fluffy carpet became smooth stone.

She remembered all too well what it looked like when  _he_ was still around. Before he'd called her that awful word. The area at the centre of it all was open space, occupied here and there by the odd table and chairs. She could picture it, picture  _him_ so _easily._ Dark head bent over the textbooks scattered everywhere, as he worked on something or other. 

Now, it lay bare, with the exception of a carboard box- a shoebox from the only shoe store they had in Cokeworth - and a note. A note written in familiar spidery script that caused her stomach to lurch. 

 _"If you've found this box, congratulations. You are now obligated to return to your dormitory and have a look at what's in it. Rest assured, however, if you open this before you get there, the consequences will be dire. Run along, now._ _"_

Slowly, it occurred to her that someone had been expecting her to show up. Had set this here for her to see. She felt the uncomfortable prickling feeling of eyes on her back, and she hastily grabbed the box so that she could make her retreat. 

* * *

The trip back to Gryffindor Tower was rushed and Lily doubled her already quickened pace so that she could avoid the Marauders. Sirius had been acting out a lot more lately, and James was irritable, moody and suspicious of everything. Peter followed the other two, often switching between either of their moods, and Remus had blanked out just about everyone, going about his business with a glassy look in his eyes and a faraway expression on his face. 

She hurried through the Common Room, and was up the stairs in mere seconds, throwing herself onto her bed and drawing the curtains shut. She tore open the box, almost literally ripping it apart, and was confronted by a collection of glittering vials, and another piece of parchment. 

 _"Assuming you had your curiosity piqued and actually followed directions, well done. Now, let's get down to business. Each of these vials will be labelled, and your job, is to listen to them in order. Beginning, of course, at one. Note: You must **not** open any of them without first casting _ Muffliato _."_

Wand shaking in her hand, she cast the spell. 

Picking up the crystalline little bottle, (one of many that she had watched him label and store away for whatever little project he had going on), she stared at the green mist that filled it and gently turned it around so that she could see the number one on its side. Summoning all of her Gryffindor courage, she pulled the cork out. 

And almost fell off her bed, nearly taking box, vials, parchment and sheets with her. 

" **Hello. As you might have figured out by now, it's Severus. Severus Snape. Or, as you may know me, Snivellus, slimeball, greasy git, death eater in training, et cetera, et cetera.** " 

She couldn't help the shiver that raced up her spine. She'd heard him say a lot of things in a lot of ways, but this... The cool tone was tinged with his trademark, ever present snark, and Lily could sense the devil-may-care attitude her fri- _former_ best friend was exuding. It made her feel sick. 

" **Now, don't worry. This won't take long at all. As I said earlier, all you have to do is listen, beginning at one. House rules: there are two. First, again, I repeat, you listen. Second, you pass it on. When you're done, you hand it off to the next person. Of course, if you don't, I wouldn't know and all, but trust me. Should you break these rules, there will be consequences. Pay attention, now, because I've thought long about this, and worked very, very hard. _You do not get to take me for granted._ Not again. **

**"Those consequences I mentioned earlier? They will come in the form of Howlers during breakfast that will scream every single word I say here. They will come in the form of letters to the Prophet, and of course, the contents of this box will appear in the rooms of your Head of House _and_ your parents. **

**"How will these consequences come about? Let's just say, that no matter how hard you tried to make it otherwise, there are still people out there  that I call friends.**

**"Now that that's over and done with, get comfortable. Ask the House Elves to bring you a snack, whatever. Because I'm about to tell you the story of my life and, as I'm sure you're _dying_ to know, why it ended. You may be thinking, "But, wait! I didn't have anything to do with this!" If you are, you are most definitely wrong. If you received this box, trust me, your name will pop up. Hopefully, this isn't going to be easy for you. If it was supposed to be easy, I wouldn't have done it all. Also, do feel free to throw them, hex them, jinx them, curse them, anything to damage them, really. They're spelled to be unbreakable, so, good luck with that.** "

"-ly?" 

Jolting up again, Lily hastily spelled everything back into place, including the cork back into the vial and dispelling the Muffliato into thin air. 

She drew back the curtains to find a concerned Mary MacDonald staring down at her. 

"Oh, thank goodness you're here! We were so worried." 

Squinting at the brunette, Lily must have looked confused, because she quickly followed up with an explanation. 

"We're supposed to have Potions now, and you didn't come down to class. Slughorn said he didn't blame you, that he misses Sev-" 

"I don't want to hear it." 

"Look, Lils, I know you were friends up until-" 

"I said I don't want to hear it!" 

"Slughorn gave you the rest of the period off. Feel better, okay?" 

And with that, Mary pulled her into a quick hug, patted her back lightly, and was gone. 

Lily'd heard of Survivor's Guilt, but she never thought it'd apply to her. She was tamping down hard on the feelings that were bubbling up all because she was here with friends who wanted her to be okay, and he wasn't because he didn't have anybody. 

_He had you, and he gave you up, remember?_

He'd had her but he'd gone and given her up. She ignored the heavy feeling in her chest, and the way her stomach settled and curled into her warm blankets. She'd skip History of Magic too. 


	2. Vial No.1, The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I suppose you could say that this is what set the ball rolling."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this update took a while. When I first started this, I had no idea where I was going with it, no idea how to put the words in my head onto the page, and no clue as to whether of not I was serious about it. I wasn't sure how to write some of the characters, wasn't sure which characters would even appear, not even sure what I wanted to properly focus on. So, I just... left it here. But then, a few people left comments, and that, as it turns out, was the encouragement I needed to kick my ass into gear and get my act together. Now, this story has a fuzzy outline, I'm a little more comfortable with the characters and I kinda figured out what's going on. So, thanks for sticking around, and I hope you enjoy.

"Miss Evans! I have told this class time and again, if you feel unwell, you are not to attend! Go to Madam Pomfrey this instant!" 

Blinking out of her trance, Lily shook her head lightly, almost as though she were trying to erase her previous thoughts. 

"Sorry, Professor." 

"Go!" 

The redhead gathered her things and turned to make her way toward the door, but an idea struck her, and she walked over to talk to Professor Babbling instead. 

"It's only bit of nausea, Professor, and some cramps. Could I go back to the dorms instead, please?" 

Professor Babbling looked down at her, lips pursed. 

"Very well, Miss Evans, and for Merlin's sake, speak to your Head of House about getting a break from your classes. Now, go." 

"Thank you, Professor." 

Lily left the classroom, the recitation of the runic alphabet following behind her as Professor Babbling returned to teaching her class. She didn't notice the pensive look in the eyes that watched her leave. 

Her feet dragged as she went, slowing her trip back to the dormitory. She tugged at the tie around her neck a bit, and sighed. 

"Evans." 

Lily jumped, the books she held in her hands tumbling to the floor, and she automatically bent to pick them up despite the pounding of her heart in her chest. However, she found that none of them had hit the ground, instead hovering in midair as though frozen. She put her hand on one, expecting it to move as she willed, but it held firm. She let go. 

" _Finite_ ," said the voice, and the book dropped neatly into her palm. The others were not so lucky, hitting the stone with soft thuds. 

She gathered them up, and turned to face the one who had startled her. Her eyes narrowed. 

"What do _you_ want?" 

"It's been three days," he said, and Lily's blood froze in her veins. 

"And?" Her pulse is racing again, for an entirely different reason this time. 

"You did pay attention to the rules, didn't you? There were only two, after all." 

"Yes, I paid atttention. What does that have to do with anything?" 

His eyes are narrowed now, too.

"Rule number one. You listen." He raises his hand, and there's an envelope clutched in it, coloured violently red. "There's a time limit on that one, you know. By all means, this should've gone off this morning, but I figured you just needed some encouragement." 

"I barely had anything to do with this. Even if all this gets out, it won't be much skin off my back." 

"On the contrary. You played quite the part, Miss Evans, and you still are, it seems. Dead and gone, rest his soul, and you continue to let him down." 

The anger bubbles up in her throat, sudden and red-hot, and she can't help snapping at him. 

"I was still better for him than you lot!" 

"Are you so sure? Why is it that that little box only mentions one Slytherin's name, then? Why is it that the only reason _I_ had to listen is because he _trusted_ me to make sure _you_ did? Tell me, Evans." 

"Because," she said, "because..." 

She couldn't answer. 

"That's what I thought. Run along now, little Miss Innocent. Wouldn't want to miss your little appointment with Professor McGonagall, now, would we?" 

"Sod off, Rosier," she growled, low in her throat, and she marched away in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom. 

* * *

The conversation with McGonagall was short, sweet, to the point, and helped along by the fact that Lily looked an absolute mess, no thanks to the encounter in the corridor that had her rushing to find her Head of House in an angry, impatient haze. 

How dare Evan Rosier tell her that the shady Slytherins Severus had been hanging around played less of a part in his suicide than she did?

She had to finish listening. She had to know if it was true. 

She headed up to the dormitory, blessedly empty, and closed the curtains around her bed, charming them to ensure privacy. No one but her could open them, she'd hear the others coming if they tried. She took her time, now, putting away her books and her bag, tucking her shoes under her bed. Finally, when she was ready, she opened the box, and carefully lifted out vial number two. She picked up her wand and with a sigh, she cast _Muffliato_. The stopper came out, and so did the green mist, in the shape of a very familiar castle. 

**"So, like I mentioned in the last message, these pretty pictures will take you around with me, so you get to experie-"**

She hadn't finished the first vial. She groaned quietly, and swapped out vial number two, for vial number one.

**"The hardest part of this was figuring out how to control the mist. But, I did it, and now, would you look at that?"**

Lily looked, and the castle morphed, its gaseous body twisting and turning, and evaporating and reforming to form tracks, and an engine, and cars, and smoke billowing in nonexistent wind. The Hogwarts Express. And then, it was Hogwarts itself, all spires and towers, and complete with a Quidditch Pitch and Great Lake. It morphed again, this time into a crooked, dilapidated little house, and Lily frowned simply at the thought of it. Spinner's End. 

**"Pretty, isn't it? Now, you can experience all the things that had a hand in ruining my life in person, I mean, if what I had could even be called a life. Anyway, this is where I was born, and, as a result, where it all began. Welcome to Spinner's End, lady and gentlemen, where the fathers were abusive, the mothers, frail, but protective, and the children, beaten, hungry, and desperate. Everyone, however, was the same, in that they had next to nothing to their name."**

Lily gasped, though she didn't know what for. She knew exactly what happened in that house. The mist shuffled itself into a scene, and she watched on in horror, as a man furiously swung his fists at a woman and young boy, who clung to each other, both trying to put themselves further into the path of attack so the other wouldn't be hurt. 

A moment later, it swirled again, to the child carefully chopping, dicing and mashing what seemed like herbs, and stirring them into something on the fire. He spooned some of it into a cup, and then walked carefully over to where the woman sat, bruised and battered as he. He started rubbing it into the bloodied parts of her face, and continued until the small pot was nearly finished. What little remained, she used on him, although there was little she could do for his nose, unable to set it herself.

The scenarios repeated themselves, or so Lily thought, until she noticed the boy grew each time, and started to shout back instead of cowering. He took the man's ire, and the woman was left to mix and boil the salves. 

**"It got better, a bit. I made a friend, eventually, who made the world seem not so dark and daunting, and I appreciated that. Thank you, Lily."**

The image this time wasn't just an image, but a memories, as Lily herself remembered this. They laughed together in the park, Petunia a ways off, he pushed her on the swings. They lay side by side in the grass, and they amused themselves by blooming flowers in their palms. She smiled to herself, just a little. 

**"This isn't about you, though. Yours is a story for another time. No, we're talking about someone else this time."**

She stopped smiling. The mist folded itself into a letter, branded with the Hogwarts seal. 

**"Like I said, things were looking up. I had a friend, and I received a letter, detailing my acceptance to a school far, far away from Cokeworth, and Tobias. I knew I was magic, Mother taught me from her old textbooks, and we decided I could use her old school things. I couldn't care less, really, I was just happy to be on my way to Hogwarts."**

She watched herself chattering at Severus, she watched him chatter back, and she felt her stomach drop because the Hogwarts Express was back and she knew exactly what was about to happen. 

**"You know, I only truly held three things dear to me. The first was my friendship with Lily, the one thing that made my days seem not so bleak and repetitive; the second was my intelligence, that actually made me _worth_ something, that meant that I _wasn't_ just some useless runt, and the third... the third was my mother, and her beliefs, that protected me in that godforsaken shack I called a home. I cared for only _three_ things, and you, Sirius, within minutes, managed to insult me based on two of them, and never quit. I hope you're listening, because this particular vial is specifically for you." **

The scene changed again, and Lily was looking at the Great Hall. The Hat sat in Severus' head, and though no sound came out of its mouth when it yelled, Lily knew exactly what it said. 

**"No matter what you've said to me, just know that I was never once ashamed to be a Slytherin. My housemates can sod off, some of the bloody elitist, pureblooded ignoramuses that they were, and Merlin knows I only ever listened to them so that I wouldn't have to sleep with one eye open. I am going to be perfectly clear. I was not interested in the Dark Arts because I was a Slytherin. I was not a Slytherin because I was interested in the Dark Arts. My interest in the Dark Arts, and my being Sorted into Slytherin were not at all related. They were completely and utterly in all ways, separate. I am-- Sorry, I _was_ proud of being a Slytherin, and nothing you said could have changed that.**

**"Just to save myself the hassle, I clear things up from now. The Dark Arts are interesting, and they help. How do they help? Simple. You are good at Defence, and I was good at Defence, but for two very different reasons. _You_ absolutely hate the Dark Arts, and brute force works in your favour. _I_ liked the Dark Arts, and understanding them worked in my favour since I knew how they worked, and as a result exactly how to dismantle them. Any questions? No? Good. Moving on." **

Lily's stomach roiled. What had she done? Alienating her best friend over what was basically just an extremely dangerous study tactic? Her throat was dry, but her eyes were wet. How strange. 

**"Now, let's get to the important part of this vial's story, because, yes, they all have their very own story to go with them, although, admittedly, some of them do overlap. Anyway, the Shrieking Shack. Lupin, I'm apologising in advance, but this shouldn't cause too much backlash if everyone does their part, and follows the rules. The only person who'll hear about this who wasn't already properly aware of the situation is Lily, and I can't control whether or not she tells anyone. That's her decision, and hers alone."**

What sort of secret could timid, pleasant Remus have? 

 **"Anyway, I'll admit, I was petty. I followed you around sometimes, because the stuff you pulled was not okay, and people need to realise that. Some the hexes you threw at the student body and called "pranks" were _illegal,_** **you know. But, none of that compares to the time when you told me to come to Shrieking Shack if I wanted to know what you were up to.**

**"Sure, I didn't _have_ to go, but I did, and that's on me, yes, but you willingly, and knowingly, let me walk into a room with a living, feral werewolf, and didn't think to give me some sort of warning? A werewolf who happened to be one of your close friends that would have been traumatised if he but me, and probably executed if you'd gotten caught? Lupin, I hope he at least said sorry for doing that to you, because I know I'm still waiting on my apology." **

No. No. It couldn't be. This couldn't be what James had bragged about saving him from. No. He'd tried to tell her, and she'd called him _ungrateful_. What kind of friend--? 

**"I suppose you can say that this was what set the ball rolling. I didn't even wake up in the Hospital Wing. I woke up in Dumbledore's office, not for anyone to see if I was okay, but so that I could be _interrogated and_ _sworn to silence_. You got off with a slap on the wrist, and you know what I got? I had the realisation that if I had actually died there, it really wouldn't have mattered. Sure, a few people would have been sad for a few days, but no one would actually be properly affected. My life wasn't important enough for that." **

His voice sounded like he was admiring some sort of rare creature or potions ingredient, like he was looking out over the black and the Forbidden Forest, and its hidden mysteries. He sounded as though he'd been marvelling at something, as though he'd made a grand discovery. Lily wasn't sure whether her heart would break first or if her stomach would rebel before it had the chance. 

 **"On a different note,"** Severus cleared his throat, **"I think I've been talking long enough for this vial,and you're probably sick of hearing my voice. Remember, though, this is only the beginning. I do hope you are prepared for what's to come."**

Lily stays unmoving for long enough that vial neatly reseals intself in her hand, and she gets up to reorganise the box and its contents. With a cross between a sigh and sob, she begins to cry. 


End file.
